FDA warning might be cited in Afghan slayings case

SEATTLE (AP) — A lawyer for an American soldier set to be sentenced for killing 16 Afghan civilians may cite a new Food and Drug Administration warning about the psychiatric side effects of an anti-malarial drug used by U.S. troops.

On Monday, the FDA said mefloquine (MEF-loe-kwin) — known as Lariam, its brand name — can cause long-term neurological damage and serious psychiatric side effects.

Attorney John Henry Browne has said he has documents indicating his client, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, took the drug while in Iraq, but medical records for his time in Afghanistan are incomplete.